Orange fall short as late tying FG misses
DJ Uiagalelei passed for 181 yards and one touchdown, Kobe Pace rushed for 76 yards and another score, and Clemson held off Syracuse 17-14 on Friday night.
Clemson (4-2, 3-1 ACC) held on for the win after Syracuse place-kicker Andre Szymt missed a 48-yard field goal attempt with 38 seconds left.
Syracuse (3-4, 0-3) came into the game off two ACC losses decided on the final play of each game
Orange tailback Sean Tucker had 157 yards rushing on 22 carries.
Clemson had only surrendered five offensive touchdowns this season, the second fewest in the country. Syracuse got one in the second quarter and a stunner midway through the fourth when Garrett Shrader hit Trebor Pena for a 62-yard score just over two minutes after B.T. Potter’s 40-yard field goal had given the Tigers a seemingly insurmountable 17-7 lead.
Syracuse tied it at 7-all behind Tucker, ran to the 2 after a 39-yard gain. Shrader scored untouched on the next play, just the second rushing touchdown allowed this season by the Tigers.
Syracuse squandered the only scoring threat in the first quarter after Tucker broke a 54-yard run down the right side to the Clemson 19. After Clemson coach Dabo Swinney called a timeout, Shrader was intercepted by Tyler Venables just inside the 10-yard line on the next play. It was the only turnover of the game.
Szymt became the program’s all-time leading scorer with his extra point after the Orange’s first touchdown. It gave him 335 points, one more than Nate Trout’s mark, set in 1999.
Shrader finished 17-of-37 for 191 yards. Shrader only rushed for six yards on seven carries running for 178 and 137 the previous two games. The Orange could do nothing offensively on a third-quarter possession that started near midfield and scored on big plays, not sustained drives.